"Ahhh..." A sound of utter exhaustion resounded from the figure of Yennda, who seemed stranded in the void. It was a familiar space to someone like him who had died thousands of times. It was like he was in a trance, a state where he was half-awake, drifting across the void endlessly.
Originally, like in a state of sleep, he wasn't even aware of this place. Only after being revived so many times did Yennda begin to observe the place bit by bit. Of course, someone like Orakha was able to maintain a semblance of consciousness even here, which was how he stole information about the Mystic Paths every time he was revived at the start.
Having been maintaining himself at the Iron Grade all along meant his body, mind, and soul weren't robust enough to glean into the process. However, it was different this time, as he was killed while at the Gold Grade, especially upon obtaining his Pranic Beast form of a Tangible Epidemic.
He could perceive everything clearly. Amidst the void were roots dangling about, containing data clusters towards their ends. They absorbed the data clusters like nutrients, processed them along the roots, and eventually condensed something through the fruits.
Even if he could perceive everything clearly now, he could do nothing here. Nothing was under his control. His sole choice was to wait passively until Blola revives him.
Originally, that should have been the case. But there was a duo that had other plans, for which they needed him to react in a certain way.
The sense of clarity grew stronger as Yennda found himself shining a faint yellow hue. It was then that a bridge of yellow extend out of his body and travel endlessly into the void. Even without a glance, he instinctively knew what it was.
The Yellow Mystic Path!
At the end of the path was his daughter, Harrala. And a moment after it appeared, cracks covered the path before it shattered.
[Dad!]
A mournful scream of Harrala resounded in his mind, jolting him awake as Yennda screamed, "NOOO!"
The fact that the Mystic Path shattered implied his daughter's death, "No! Please, this has to be a dream! I may be hallucinating...yes, that should be it..."
[Can I...spend time with you, Dad?]
[Do I...do I have the fortune to be with you?]
The relationship between the two wasn't a happy one. Originally created to be consumed by Yennda, Harrala wasn't supposed to ever grow up. However, after Grehha interfered during the First Major Disaster, took charge of Yuza, and eventually resulted in Harrala's birth, things changed.
Unlike other Empyrean Tusks, Harrala was forced to grow while bearing the expectations of her Settlement without an Empyrean Tusk for them to reside in.
Gannala's state was similar, but she was away from her immune system. As a result, she could spend a good majority of her growth time without being influenced by the desperation of her immune system wishing to stay in her.
Due to this, Harrala grew depressed. Moreover, at that point in time, the Mammoth Clan not only had a limited amount of resources, but Grehha too didn't have much expertise with his Empyrean Incubator.
Therefore, even genetically, Harrala was barely suited to be an Empyrean Tusk. She was only better than the weakest versions of Empyrean Tusks in the Mammoth Clan history. Her feats as a Mystic Path inheritor were nothing too.
Among all this, she felt lonely the most, due to the amount of time she was forced to stay in human form because she wasn't ready yet to become an Empyrean Tusk. As a result, she sought a familial bond and ended up relying on Yennda.
It was a twisted relationship built out of loneliness and desperation. However, her desperation became Yennda's solace. He ended up behaving according to her needs, for only then could he avoid blaming himself needlessly.
Every moment they shared together, it was Harrala taking the initiative to do things with him that a family did together, be it having meals, trying to play, etc.
[I...wanted to spend more time with you, Dad!]
The Yellow Mystic Path shattered fully and fell towards him. The fragments of the Mystic Path seeped into him, carrying with them all of Harrala's experiences. Everything that the Yellow Mystic Path had accumulated over the years was funnelled back to the source- Yennda.
'She...genuinely wanted me to be in her life...' As all her memories funnelled into him, tears streamed out of his eyes as Yennda wriggled, "I...I should have done better...I shouldn't have been a fucking idiot!"
"I...I should have..." He clutched his head in pain and uttered while covered by tears, his teeth clattering as his expression became rage-inbound, "Even if I realise it now, so what? She's dead! My daughter's dead! Harrala's dead!"
"She's...she's not there...anymore...not in my life... you fucking idiot! Idiot! IDIOT! DIE! DIE! DIE!" His fingers dug into his eyes and began to gouge them out, as painfully as possible, "USELESS BASTARD! WHY ARE YOU SO USELESS?"
"DIE! FUCKING BASTARD!" His sobs stopped, replaced by whimpers as blood trickled down his hollow eye sockets, "She's...dead. My daughter's dead. There's...there's nothing left for me anymore. Is there any point in living this cursed life?"
As he despaired, the last yellow fragment merged into him, clearly highlighting the scene where Brangara devoured Harrala wholly. Even if she had four lives, it didn't matter as Unlimited Predator digested her whole, stack included. "If he didn't exist...right, I don't care anymore. So,"
In a place where he wasn't supposed to move, thanks to being empowered by the power of the Yellow Mystic Path, Yennda was able to move his body. This shouldn't have been possible, but had been machinated by Grehha who was capable enough to understand, replicate, and even recreate Mystic Paths, given enough preparations.
Grehha simply modified the Mystic Path in Harrala so that upon her death, it would return to Yennda and allow him to move around in the void-that was the Transcendent Eater's database. That was all.
Though Yennda didn't understand how he could move around now, he wasn't sane enough to entertain a train of thought. He couldn't care less, "So, I'll destroy it."
"I'll destroy it all, even if Sumatra gets destroyed in the process. It's not a world worth saving anyway!" With a deranged laugh while blood trickled down his face like tears, Yennda began to release his powers in full swing.
"Gahhh!" Blola shrieked in pain and rolled around on the ivory sand, clutching clumps of it in an attempt to overcome the pain. He circulated Prana throughout his body, intending to heal
the damage.
However, warts had first popped up in his heart, around the vicinity of his Spirit Container. He had been targeted at the source. And even though he was trying his best to heal himself,
things has gone out of control.
Primary Nature-Memory Revival!
Blola's Primary Nature was activated on its own as a result of the seepage of power. A fruit
began to grow in his body, beginning to revive Yennda. The moment the process started, the powers of Yennda's three Natures leaked out and began to consume the Transcendent Eater.
Primary Nature-Fission and Fusion!
Secondary Nature-Infection!
Tertiary Nature-Mutation!
Infection caused warts to form across the Transcendent Eater's body. Mutation caused
changes to appear in their genetic makeup, turning them cancerous. Fission caused these cancerous outgrowths to break free of the Transcendent Eater's structure and become
independent.
Finally, Fusion took only the beneficial mutated parts from the fission beings and integrated them into Yennda's genetic makeup. This was happening while he was being revived, allowing him to systematically consume the Transcendent Eater's power.
"Stop!" Blola shrieked, "Don't kill me, Yennda!"
[And I should care?]
A voice resounded in his mind space as Blola stared in terror, losing full control of his body as
he watched a hand burst out of his back and begin to tear his skin and muscles. As if breaking out of an eggshell, something strange, sinister, and eldritch was breaking out of the mould. And the mould here was Blola.
The Blue Mystic Path shattered and was consumed by this creature, getting further empowered in response. The two cups fused into a singular whole as the experiences of both Yennda and Blola funnelled into it and filled it to the brim.
Blola never had a child because he didn't feel the need to have one. He simply wished to live
life as he pleased. And once he reached the 10-Life Stage after unlocking the full extent of his Transcendent Eater power, he planned to live on Sumatra Continent freely until his lifespan
allowed.
By then, he'll complete his preparations to Transcend, which was his ultimate goal. After all, the moment he enters the Transcendence Stage, he'd be stronger than Sumatra's Transcendent Eater. It was his goal all along to live as an unfettered entity and do whatever he
pleased.
Stuff like having a child would only hold him back, so Blola never entertained the thought. Experience-wise, he saw how Inala and even the likes of Virala were affected by their daughters, so he wanted to remain free.
It was a reasonable thought, only if he wasn't used as a pawn. He was the perfect fuel to arm
Yennda with enough power that the latter could deal the final strike on Brangara. Therefore, an intact Blue Mystic Path was perfect.
Now, the entity being revived on its own within Blola had consumed both Yellow and Blue
Mystic Paths. It mutated, sparked fission beings and fused genetic strengths into its build, rapidly evolving at unchecked speeds.
Fuohhh!
There was a soft pulse at the region, following which yellow and blue radiances erupted out of
Blola's body, generating enough pain during the process that he died, unable to resist in the
slightest.
His body melted into a cocoon, shaped like an oval carnivorous flower covered by vines acting
like seals chaining it down.
Bang! Boom!
Followed by snapping sounds, the chains shattered one after another as streamlined cracks
appeared on the cocoon. It unfurled like the petals of a flower to reveal a small gelatine sphere. Something wriggled within, like sludge, following which there was a sharp scream,
like a banshee.
The gelatine sphere ballooned to a kilometre in size before bursting, emanating the pillar of light released by a Minor Treasure for a second. It was generated from the gelatinous substance, the cocoon, and everything within it being combusted into pure energy.
The pillar of light vanished, revealing an entity neither human nor Clansman. Sleek legs, six in
number, resembling coiled tentacles per each, with faint hair-like tendrils covering it like fur. The torso was a vortex of bone, filled with bone marrow that circulated like blood. At the top was the head in the shape of a lamp, extremely smooth.
It had no visible organs. Like a sculpture forged out of ivory, it stood still. Suddenly, a thin
line appeared on the head and caused the head to split open like a carnivorous mouth, unfurling into six petals, each of which was embedded with an eye, surrounded by a row of teeth and something resembling gills.
Fragment Disease of the Mammoth Clan, Celestial Boar, Mystic Tentacle, and now, the
Transcendent Eater. Taking every extreme genetic trait of theirs and integrating it into an existence resulted in this creature, one that had consumed two Mystic Paths to unleash their effect, even though the Fourth Major Disaster had yet to begin.
Intermediate Mystic Grade Pranic Beast-Brood Mother!
Inheritors of all Mystic Paths were females. And by taking that in and mutating every cell
endlessly while being revived resulted in a female Pranic Beast, one of the most terrifying existences to appear on Sumatra.
The sheer number of back-to-back mutations had long since destroyed Yennda's mind. It was
neither him nor Blola who he had consumed. It was a newborn Mystic Grade Pranic Beast, created for the sole purpose of killing the Celestial Boar.
It reached a height of 40 metres, nothing spectacular in size, especially when compared to all
the Mystic Grade Pranic Beasts that had appeared on Sumatra until now. However, it wasn't a
being of brute strength in the first place, but one capable of taking down an entire Continent
if left unchecked.
"He should be there!" The Brood Mother let out a cackle as it observed two pinnacle
presences clash with each other and result in an aurora spectacle upon every collision. Its figure vanished and reappeared twenty kilometres away, sprouting out of the sand like a cactus that morphed into its form.
In this manner, its figure travelled across the Kalahatra Desert, racing towards the Celestial
Boar.